A Charmed Story - Part Twelve:
A Halliwell Christmas Carol
Chapter 2

Kyle sighed staring at the little vial he was holding in his hand. He just arrived at the Halliwell manor and parked his car. Now he was sitting there, eyeing that shiny liquid warily. It wasn't that he was afraid... oh no, he wasn't. But still... Would he really end up at the school? Or would he maybe find himself in a demon's cave? 'No...' he told himself. The sisters knew their job very well, this potion would work.
He sighed, left the car and locked it. Then he walked around the house and to the garden in the back. Again he eyed the vial as Paige's words echoed in his mind: "Just throw it to your feet and you'll be there with us..."
He looked around and when he was sure no one was watching, he threw the potion to his feet.
Immediately he was surrounded by a yellow smoke and when his vision cleared again he stood in a long hallway right in front of a huge door. He took a relieved breath, feeling a little dizzy from being transported. Then he carefully opened the door. Behind it was a large hall full of people. On the stage Chris was holding his speech.
Kyle scanned the crowed and finally spotted Paige and the rest of the family. Carefully not to gain too much attention, he made his way through the rows and sat down next to his girl, right that moment loud applause filled the air. Chris had exited the stage.
"Welcome honey," Paige said and kissed Kyle lovingly. "Did everything go well?"
"Yeah... Just still a little dizzy, but I'm here, right?" She smiled and took his hand, while they both turned their attention to the stage.

& & & & &

Annie sat in the backseat of the car and pouted. She had her arms crossed over her chest and looked out of the window. It was snowing again...
"Annie..." her mother tried to talk to her for the tenth time.
"No... I saw it mom, I know he's my guardian angel," Annie replied. "It was like dad always told me... Why don't you believe me?"
The woman, who was on the wheel, winced as the words of her daughter brought her memories back to life... the memories of her husband... the memories of his death.
"Annie, I do... I do believe you," the woman replied with a sigh.
The girl lend a little forward: "And why couldn't I talk to him a little more?"
"Because... because we're in a hurry... If he is YOUR angel, then you'll meet him again, don't worry..." the woman said, trying to stay calm. She didn't want to tell her daughter the truth... Actually she wasn't even sure if she herself would know the truth.
Her husband, Danny, he had told her once that he had been a guardian angel, and that's also what he had told their daughter... And it was ... well, at the beginning of their relationship he would just disappear and reappear from nothing... She never had asked him about that, how that worked... she didn't want to know. And he had given all this up for them anyway... They had been happy together, a happy little family.
Till that day he was attacked, till that day he had died in her arms. He had told her with his last breath, to protect their little girl. And that's what she tried to do.
"Are you sure?" Annie asked, pulling her mother out of her thoughts.
The woman took a deep breath, then smiled at her daughter: "Yeah, of course..."

& & & & &

"And that was... how the snowman lived happily ever after, coming back every Christmas to cheer a little kid up and give him his gift."
The curtains closed slowly hiding the stage behind, and with it, a very smiley Snow-Wyatt and all the other kids who stood behind him. At that very moment the auditorium was filled with the sound of strong and energetic clapping hands.
When Leo saw Piper wiping her tears away, while sustaining little Chris in her arms, he smiled and wrapped her in an embrace.
"He was awesome, wasn't he," she sobbed, touched.
Leo nodded, amused and also moved by his wife's attitude. "Yeah, he was... He was the best." Then he kissed her on the forehead: "And now, sweetheart, you have to be yourself again and pay attention, because the best part of all the show is about to start."
Meanwhile, Chris and Bianca were still clapping their hands: "Cute..." murmured Chris.
Bianca kissed him in the cheek and said, making him blush: "You did a great job, honey."
Victor, who was sitting in the middle of both couples, chuckled with their words as he kept clapping. "And which is that part?" he asked Leo, interested.
But Chris was faster in his answer. "Santa Claus is coming..." he explained mysteriously. Victor raised his eyebrow but then turned his head to the stage again, wonderingly and expectant.
Bianca burst out into laughter and caressed Hope while saying: "I guess this part is gonna be fun." Chris smiled and hugged her.
Meanwhile, behind them, Paige was holding Kyle's hand and laughing at the same time: "Did you see the kid with a bunch of flowers on his head? He was so hilarious!"
Kyle laughed softly too: "The poor kid was kinda freaked out..."
"Yeah, he was." said Cole, who was sitting at the other side of Phoebe, and therefore he had to lean a bit over himself: "I would be, if I had to wear that... disguise." He and Kyle laughed heartily, but Phoebe punched Cole's arm playfully, making him complain: "That hurt!"
"Poor kid, Cole!? He was really cute, don't say foolishness."
"Yeah, of course," Paige answered very quickly, trying to show herself serious but holding back her laughter. Kyle couldn't help chuckling, which made Cole laugh again and Phoebe roll her eyes.

& & & & &

Steve hugged Nicki tightly. "I love you, you know that?" he whispered into her ear.
"Yeah I know," she replied smiling, "I love you, too."
Both had been helping backstage with the first grade and the kindergarten group. Now after those parts were done they both had a moment to relax and they wanted to use it to watch 'Santa', from the side of the stage.
"I'm sorry," Steve said then, his voice low and nearly broken.
Nicki pulled away, wonderingly: "For what?" She looked him in the eyes and could see the sadness and frustration there.
"For not giving you the Christmas you deserve," he said lowering his eyes.
"Are you kidding?" she said and slapped his chest playfully. "I'm here, watching the play, with the person I love most in this world. And tomorrow we'll have a great dinner with our families... and Christmas Day we will spend with our friends, and I'm sure you'll have a lovely gift for me... But most important... all of this time you're near... You're here on my site... What more could I wish for?"
He nodded, but wasn't convinced: "But I wanted this Christmas to be perfect!"
Nicki smiled and kissed him: "It is perfect..."
Steve sighed and hugged her again. "I don't deserve you... I love you so much..."
She returned his hug lovingly. She could understand him perfectly, the situation was anything else than easy at the moment. But they would make the best out of it.
"Tony... Drew... Melissa... STOP THAT CRAP!" they heard Veronica from the changing rooms.
Nicki pulled away and took Steve's hand: "Come on, let's see how our friends are doing with the 9th grade..."

& & & & &

Angela and Michael were sitting on the old and used sofa at the house of Angela's parents. They had invited them for an early Christmas Lunch. It felt weird to go back to the roots. They had spend so much time here, before they had been kidnapped, but now they didn't really fit into this world anymore. Some of their old friends also had been there for the meal. But those who had been their best friends in school, were now twenty years older than them. Michael sighed thinking about how less he had to talk about with Andy, the one who had been his best friend... once, in another life... It was crazy, but... it had been much easier for the two to get used to all the technical innovations of the last 20 years, than it was to build a bridge between those different lives they and their old friends now had. They had simply moved on into different directions.
Now the others where gone, and Michael and Angela sat together with her parents on the sofa, drinking some coffee.
"I'm really sorry, that we can't come here tomorrow..." Angela said, feeling guilty. After all, those were her parents.
"Oh don't worry," Martha replied smiling. "Actually I'm relieved that you found some new friends so soon, after all that had happened... And I'm happy that you and... Bianca, right?" Angela nodded. "... you and Bianca are so close friends. That's good. I'm happy for you both."
"And you're godparents of their daughter, so you have to be there on Christmas," James added.
Michael grinned, thinking about Hope. He couldn't wait to see her face when she would see that huge teddy for the first time.
Martha noticed the look on his face and added: "I'm sure she's a cute girl."
"Oh yes, she is..." Michael nodded.
"So..." his mother in law said, handing him another piece of the cake, "when will you two have your own child? I mean... We're not getting any younger, you know?"
Michael and Angela blushed. Both of them unsure what to answer, they just looked at each other. Then Michael looked at the old woman - who was over seventy years old already - and felt that he shouldn't disappoint her nor her husband. "Well..." he said hesitating, "we're trying... but... it didn't work... until now, I mean... But... I promise you, you'll have some grandkids as soon as possible..."
Martha smiled warmly. Actually, even if she was old, neither Angela nor Michael doubted that she would live another twenty years or even more. She was still powerful, made sports and gave piano lessons. And even if her face showed her age, when she smiled she looked more like a teen... And the same it was for James who was laughing now, as he saw how is son in law struggled with the words. The old man was tanned, and still well build, which - as he himself said - was just because he loved to take care of their large garden.
"Oh..." the old man exclaimed suddenly, pulling the couple out of their thoughts. "I forgot, I wanted to give you something, Mike..."
"But it's two days before Christmas Day, mom," Angela stated while her father rose and went over to one of the shelves.
"Ah... nonsense... this isn't something for Christmas..." he said while pulling out a few books. Then he returned and gave the books to Michael. "Here, I know you like all those stuff about the middle age... Those books I bought a long time ago, but now I have no use of them anymore, only the dust pays attention to them. So I thought I give them to you."
Michael, nodded impressed. "Thanks," he said smiling, while he had a closer look at the old beautiful books. They surly had a high value. "Thanks a lot," he repeated.
"Oh... don't thank me, son... I'm happy that you have use for them..." he said and took a sip from his coffee.

& & & & &

"STOP THAT CRAP!" Suddenly, in the silence of the auditorium, that yell was heard. Chris went pale in less than a nano-second, feeling all the stares at him.
"Sweetie... I thought that behind the stage everything was under control... That Steve and the others were able to handle it..." Bianca whispered, as she cradled Hope in her arms, now that the girl was starting to moan weakly.
Chris smiled ashamed: "So did I... believe me." His eyes went from one place to another in the room, making sure that there was no one who had not noticed Veronica's scream. "They're gonna hear me when we're finished here..." he added, still smiling, but visibly reddish now.
Piper and Leo were also looking at him, as well as the back row where the rest were sitting, but they decided not to tell him anything, seeing how uncomfortable he was feeling already.
"Buddy..." Victor could not help chuckling, but patted his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong, these things happen in the normal world..." Chris lowered his eyes, annoyed and ashamed, but thanks God, even though it seemed to have been an eternity since Veronica's outburst behind the stage, it had been just around five seconds between it and the reopening of the curtains.
"Hehehe..." They heard a nervous fast laughter, which turned into coughing and then into a "HO, ho, ho, ho!!" while the curtains opened and Santa-Jeremiah appeared behind them, sitting on a big golden throne.
People started to laugh and Chris uncrossed and crossed his legs several times, feeling he was starting to freak out with this new 'inconvenience'. He had worked so hard to make this play perfect, and everything was going wrong...
At that moment, the young man felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Cole, who was smiling at him. "It was just a little hitch. Not even that... Relax, nephew, and enjoy your work," he said, trying to calm him down. Victor nodded, and all the others smiled at him comfortingly.
"What?? Can you read my mind now??" Chris whispered back at his uncle.
"Ho, Ho, HO!!" They heard again Jeremiah's laughter, who was now more focused and self-reliant. His voice this time surpassed all the laughter in the auditorium. "What do we have here??" He went on.
Chris turned slightly to the stage, but then to his uncle again, who was answering with a smile: "I don't need to read your mind to know what you were thinking. Do as I say... Relax!" Then he leant back again and passed his arm around Phoebe, who smiled and winked at Chris. Paige and Kyle also nodded at him. Chris took a deep breath, sighed and sat still again, looking at the scenery.
Now, Jeremiah was laughing as Santa Claus all the time, and saying hello to the kids in the room, making them laugh too.
Bianca put her hand on his knee: "Look... He's cute..." Chris swallowed and nodded; then he smiled, trying to focus on the play, as everyone had asked him to do.
"Have you all been good this year??" Jeremiah asked at that time.
"Yes!!" the kids in the room answered.
"Are you sure??" Jeremiah took his hand to his ear, as if he was not able to hear correctly.
"YES!!" the childish voices cried once again, making Santa smile.
"So you have not used magic to cheat??"
"NOOO!!"
"And you have not used it to... to get what you want??"
"NOO!!"
Jeremiah nodded slightly, with his hand scratching his chin, as if he was thinking deeply about it: "I don't know... You know what?? I see EEEverything."
At this, the kids looked at him very serious and said nothing; however, this time it was the parents that laughed heartily. "Ok... You know what?? I have a very good memory... But..." He had taken his hand under his red coat and now took it out again, throwing powder at the air suddenly: "Oops!" he said.
"That was memory dust!!" an older student dressed as an elf had come into the stage and said that, covering his mouth with a hand, and laughing: "He's gonna forget those little things now."
All the kids in the auditorium started to laugh again, as our Santa frowned and looked around, confused: "Wait... Who am I?"
"SANTA!!"
"Santa... Santa who??"
"Santa CLAUS!!"
At that Jeremiah scratched his forehead, as if he didn't remember at all. All the small kids held their breath, scared that Santa had forgotten all this, too, while parents held their laughter watching their little children's faces.
After some seconds, which again seemed to be an eternity, Santa-Jeremiah raised his hands startling in realisation: "Oh... YEAH!! You're right!! So... So I came here to... Give you some presents!!" And after saying that, he used magic to make his big bag appear. All the kids started to cry and laugh and say things, very happy.
At that moment, Bianca turned to Chris, frowning: "Is he truly bringing some presents?"
Chris, who was now calmer and enjoying all the spectacle, even laughing, nodded to his wife, shrugging: "Just a little thing... You know, there are some kids here who won't have much on Christmas Day..."
"Chris..." Bianca was so surprised and moved by that: "How did you... get those presents for all of them?"
Chris smiled and kissed her softly in her lips: "This was something that took the whole year, sweetie. I raised some money among richer parents and I even told Michael, who helped quite a lot..."
Bianca stared at him completely in love. Then she kissed him again: "You're an angel, did you know that?"
Kids of nearly all ages were starting to stand in a line, including those who had already took part in the play (or those who still would), which meant also Wyatt. Jeremiah had already a couple of twins on his knees and was talking to them while the other waited calmly and parents observed them very happily. Piper felt she was drooling at the sight of her oldest dressed as the snowman. That was a great day...
But Chris, with Bianca's words, could not help go stiff. An angel... The second time he heard that in that day. And this brought the little girl back to his mind.

& & & & &

As soon as Nicki and Steve entered the changing room, they saw how Veronica and Melissa tried to pull Drew and Tony apart. Both boys were fighting slightly.
"Hey!" Steve exclaimed and went over to them. He grabbed Tony by his wrists to hold him back.
"Where is Tom?" Nicki asked Melissa who had stepped back a little. The young witch just shrugged.
But right that moment the man shimmered in. "Wow," he mumbled and stepped to Steve's site, helping him to calm down Tony. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked then angry.
Non of the boys answered.
Steve would have expected such a behavior from Tony who was known to have a hot temper, but he never had expected something like that from Drew who was more the calm kind of guy, though he also was no angel in class. But maybe he hadn't started that...
So Steve looked at him and asked: "Drew come on... what happened?"
The young witch looked unsure to Tony who hissed an almost inaudible: "Don't..."
Veronica narrowed her eyes, then he gestured to Steve and her boyfriend: "Go... get him out and refresh... He has to be on stage right on time."
Both men nodded and pulled Tony out of the room, and to the bathroom.
Nicki shook her head and looked at Melissa. But the young girl just looked down to her feat.
Veronica looked at Drew: "Tell me what happened, please..."
"Nothing," Drew said, smiling weakly, "really, it was just... a... misunderstanding... I just don't agree with his ideas..."
"Ideas?" Nicki asked.
Drew looked at Melissa and sighed: "Sorry, but I can't tell you more."
Nicki and Veronica realised, that he didn't want to be a traitor to his classmates, especially because Melissa (Tony's girlfriend) was still in the room. So they just nodded and let Drew go his way, to get his dress fixed. Melissa followed him.
Nicki stepped closer to Veronica with a sigh: "Do you think they plan something about the play?"
Veronica shrugged: "I don't know... But if they do, they will regret it."

& & & & &

Annie was on the floor in her room, playing with a couple of old dolls her daddy had bought for her before he died. They didn't look that good anymore, but she loved those dolls above everything.
"Hey, Annie... Do you want cookies with chocolate?" her mother asked gladly as she entered with a big tray. "I just made them!"
Annie looked at her gravely, and then continued playing, ignoring her.
Her mother sighed, leaving the tray on the table in the lounge. Then she went to her again and hugged her from behind, squatting by her side: "Sweetie... Why are you angry at me?"
"Because you don't believe me."
"Annie, my love... I told you we were in a hurry... And if he's your angel, he'll find you, I promise."
"But you say that, because you don't believe he IS my angel!" she said, angrily. "I saw the colors dad told me! And he helped me!"
Her mother sighed again, and kissed her on the cheek. "I believe you, honey... But things are not that easy... You know what?? Normally, you don't see your angel... They stay hidden always behind you, to protect you and help you... Maybe you just saw him because he wanted you to see him once... But that doesn't mean you can see him all the time you want and..."
"But I can't feel him now. I felt him in the toy store, but I can't feel him now." she sobbed in her mother's arms. "If he were here, hidden, I would feel him..."
Her mother felt her heart breaking. She didn't know what to do with her and her obsession with angels... Since her dad's death, she had behaved that way. "You don't feel dad either... But you know he's here, in your heart... Always." She touched her chest softly, kissing her forehead again.
Now, Annie was crying silently. "Maybe dad is not here either," she said.
"Dad is here always... Forever..." her mother answered, caressing her hair. Both of them stayed like that, sobbing, for some minutes.
After that, the woman stood up, dried her tears, and smiled, stretching her arm to her daughter: "Ok, let's make a deal. You're gonna be happy today and you're gonna eat cookies with chocolate with me, and I promise that tomorrow we'll go back to that toy store again. Maybe your angel loves toys..." She winked at her. Annie was not sure, but finally nodded and took her hand. Then both took their cookies, watching a Disney movie.

& & & & &

After Santa "Jeremiah" had given a present to every kid he stood up from his golden throne and went to the edge of the stage.
Chris sighed nearly two hours had passed until every kid was satisfied, much longer than they had expected.
But Jeremiah still smiled in his costume. "Now it's time for me to go, because there are more kids outside and there is still so much to do before it's time to get the sleigh ready..." he said smiling and waved his hand while he took a bow.
Right that second when he did that, a small box appeared on Kyle's lap from bluish lights. "What the..." he said, but Santa interrupted him.
"Good night and Ho-Ho-Ho!" he said and orbed away.
While the others jumped up, clapping their hands and screaming for more, Kyle looked confused at Paige. "What is that?" he asked.
The witch-whitelighter shrugged: "I don't know, open it."
Kyle nodded and lifted the top of the small box. Inside was a baby-blue potion and a note.
"With this we want to invite you to our belated little Christmas-party with the Elders on December 26th! Paige will be there, too, so we thought you'd like to come. We guess, you know how to use this transporting potion.
Odin, Silas, Jeremiah, Elenia, Yuri, Andrew and all the rest..."
"Wow..." Kyle muttered completely shocked. Paige had told her about that 'party' which - as she had said - would take place in the world of the Elders. But maybe she was wrong about that... or... no, the Elders never let someone up there, she had said... So it couldn't be, could it?
"That's amazing!" Paige smiled. Then she tapped her finger on Chris's shoulder to gain his attention. When he looked around she asked through the noise of the audience: "Did you knew that?"
"What?" Chris asked not understanding. Kyle showed him the note and his eyes grew wide while he read it. Of course they had managed to convince the other Elders to invite some of the witches with their families, like the sisters and those teachers from the school... And they had invited Victor too... but Kyle? Seems the Elders saw a kind of family in him, too. Chris smiled and looked at Kyle again: "That's cool... Congratulations."
"So this party really is...?" Kyle asked pointing with his finger at the ceiling. Chris just nodded. "Wow," the man muttered again and then turned to Paige and kissed her.

& & & & &

When Michael and Angela finally reached their home, they were really tired. This had been a long day, and not as good as they had hoped. But at least Angela's parents had been really happy, so it was good they did go there.
"I need a shower," Angela said and went upstairs.
Michael nodded. Then he went to the lounge and sat down on the couch. He took one of those old books his father in law had given him. Like if he hadn't enough books like that... After they had returned form that time, he had bought tons of them, just to see if they had changed something... He shook his head smiling and started to read.
A few minutes later his wife returned, already in her night dress. "Hey, honey... Do you want a tea??"
He raised his eyes, almost surprised of hearing her voice, and nodded. "Oh, yeah... nice," he said.
Angela stared at him and then smiled, and sat down by him. He was again reading... The woman shook her head, amused about the fact that he had his nose stuck in a book about the Middle Age, again. Then she put her hand on the page he was looking at that moment.
"Angy, love, I can't read..."
"That's my intention, honey," she said, playfully.
He looked at her, furrowing his eyebrows: "What?? But..." Then he blushed: "Ok, sorry... I spent too much time reading but maybe I can find something in THIS book about... well you know that story..." he said, his eyes begging for her understanding.
"King Arthur and his Noble Knights of the Round Table... I know. But believe me. If something has changed, I am sure Chris and his family would already know, they would have told us. Or simply we would not notice, since... well, since everything would have been like that always, even our minds would have changed..."
He frowned, staring at her. "It seems you're really into this stuff of time travelling," he murmured.
She burst into laughter, and leant her head on his shoulder. "If you can't defeat your enemy... join him! I guess I don't have any other option, living with you... And now, my dear..." she said, placing her fingers on the cover of the brown and golden book. "Close this and take a tea with me, ok??"
Michael nodded, silently. Then he smiled: "I just... I just wanted to know about Amy, you know?? If she could save Gareth."
"But you told her to do it secretly, honey. That means, it'll never be in the legend."
He sighed. She was right, but he had the hope that Amy had found a way to leave a clue for them... Somewhere...
"Ok... Let's take that tea," he said, closing the book with a strong thud.
Angela smiled and kissed his cheek lovingly: "I'll get it ready then."
But Mike pushed her down to the couch again, when she tried to stand up, and grinned: "I'll make it. Just sit and relax." And he kissed her on the lips, before going to the kitchen, leaving her behind with a wide smile on her face.
Then she took the book in her hands, exhaling a deep breath, and caressed the old cover, pensive. All those things her husband had told her after their visit to the past, and the medal... She took her hand to the medal, feeling a thrill. That was so amazing... Had it really belonged to Guinevere and Lancelot?? She could not believe it... That was like a dream. She opened the book again on the first page, and read the introduction distractedly, as she played with the medal between her fingers.

& & & & &

About fifteen minutes later another act of the play was done. Now it was time for the ninth grade. Chris looked a little scared at his wife. This was the last act and until now almost everything had gone well... too well. She smiled at him. "Baby, don't worry... everything will go just fine..."
Chris shrugged: "I'm not so sure about that..."
"Do you really think they have something planed?" Victor asked. They had talked about that 'difficult' class before.
Chris shrugged again: "I just hope they don't ruin everything."
Then the curtain opened again. And there they stood, all ten members of the ninth grade, dressed in elves-costumes. They were supposed to sing a song, but before John could start to play the piano, Tony, Melissa and Jack stepped forward.
"Oh no..." Chris muttered, while Bianca caressed his hand.
Then they heard them say:
"For all those people in this hall
For a little gift we call
During the next two minutes of this show
In this hall, please let it snow."
Right after they had finished their spell snowflakes appeared from nowhere and slowly fell down on the audience. Some parents were slightly screaming, others were laughing, but no one seemed to dislike it.
Then the kids stepped back and Tony gestured to John to start playing. And so he did, and the kids sang "White Christmas".
Bianca and Victor were giggling, while the snow fell down on them, covering them with a soft white. Chris just shook his head, blushing ashamed. This was horrible... But then he looked around and noticed that everyone seemed to like it. The kids were playing with the snow and the adults seemed to enjoy it too, even if their clothes got a little wet.
"Great idea, Chris," Kyle said.
Leo nodded to that comment and looked at his son: "Why didn't you tell us that?"
Chris showed him a forced grin: "Because it wasn't planed..."
Leo frowned, then nodded smiling: "Well... I would give them an extra A for that idea..."
Chris chuckled while the ninth grade was still singing... Actually at least it did fit to the song...

(Chapter 2 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)